WIP Wednesday: Rose Star Quilt Update

I'm alive! True story.

I didn't plan on taking more than a month off from the blog. Between weeks under the weather with multiple trips to urgent care, a couple of short trips out of town, and wrapping up my term as the VP of Programming for the Austin Modern Quilt Guild, I haven't been up to sewing much; forget blogging.

I'm doing much better now, though, and I did get in a little hand sewing during travel time. Here's the progress that I have to show on the Rose Star quilt.

By some inexplicable magic, piecing in the background has gone really fast. With help from Clare at Selfsewn, I figured out how to cut the paper pieces for the edges of the quilt. I'll definitely do a post to share that process.

You can really see where the half blocks will go as the edge of the quilt comes together. I think they look like shark bites ;-) I'm waiting to piece the rest of the quilt top, then I'll go back and make the half blocks to finish it out.

I'm very pleased with the Stella Solid in Gray that I picked for the background. Thanks for all your help on Instagram! It was a ridiculous process, but it's nice to love it :-D I'm so glad I didn't go with Kona White.

Happy Crafting!

Claire

Marine Den Quilt Pattern

It's been a long time coming, but the Marine Den Quilt Pattern is finally here!

Here's the Quilty Stats for the most recent version: 

Post-wash dimensions: 56"x37"

Batting: Warm & White from The Warm Company

Front Fabric: Michael Miller Cotton Couture solid in Wedgewood, Kona Cotton Blue, Ash, Ivory, and Celery, a gray "wood floors" print, Pearl Bracelets in Citron, River Bend, and Sandbox.

Back Fabric: Pearl Bracelets in River Bend

Binding Fabric: Kona Cotton in Celery

Quilting: Free Motion and Stitching in the Ditch with the Janome Horizon 8900 QCP.

You've seen me work through a few versions of this quilt, but all the tweaking and double checking was worth it. I'm super proud of this modern quilt pattern that's been nagging at my brain since 2011. 

It's up and posted in My Pattern Store on Craftsy. I love their interface and the way they automatically alert you about updates or changes to any of the patterns that you have purchased. I also like that they send 100% of pattern sales back to the designer. That's not the way it works for PatternSpot or Etsy, so I like to release on Craftsy first. They're not paying me to say this; it's just true. They're awesome, and I thank them for it. 

I cannot wait to see the versions of the Marine Den quilt that ya'll sew up. Please email me with your photos, as I would LOVE to feature them on the blog. 

I'm participating in the Blogger's Quilt Festival this week with this most recent Marine Den quilt! I'm not making the trek to Portland for spring market, so this is a fun way to celebrate from home. I will definitely be going to Houston for fall market, though ;-)

Happy Crafting!

Claire

Blogger's Quilt Festival: Cheer do. Good Stiches Quilt

The Blogger's Quilt Festival is allowing the entry of two quilts this spring, so I only thought is appropriate to enter our rockin' January quilt from the Cheer Circle of do. Good Stitches. 

There's been such a great response to the bright, cheery colors in this quilt, why not spread the love?

This is the Starburst Cross block from a tutorial by SewCraftyJess. It worked out well for a bee sewing project, since all the star points are situated towards the middle of the blocks.

I free motion quilted it very heavily to reinforce some scant seams and to get myself lots more practice! I tried all different kinds of patterns and looked to Leah Day, Angela Walters, and Elizabeth Hartman for designs that looked within my newbie ability.

Since two of the blocks came in a full inch too small, I pieced in two coordinating squares of fabric on the top, and worked the small blocks into the back.

I've never done so much FMQ, and this is only the second quilt I've attempted it on after my most recent Marine Den quilt.

In the words of Angela Walters, I quilted it to death. I'm confident that this quilt will survive many trips through the washing machine in the future.

I really love the sweet little touch of the appliquéd do. Good Stitches label. I'm so glad that I ordered a fat quarter of labels for the Cheer Circle. We'll be good on labels for years to come :-)

Quilty Stats:
Pre-wash dimensions: 56.5"x 45"
Post-wash dimensions: 54"x43.5"
Batting: Warm & White from The Warm Company
Front Fabric: Assorted prints from do. Good Stitches Cheer Circle Members
Back and Binding Fabric: Yellow plaid donated from my Mom's stash.
Quilting: Free Motion and Stitching in the Ditch with the Janome Horizon 8900 QCP.
Donated to Project Linus

Have fun with the Blogger's Quilt Festival :-) I can't wait to see all of these beautiful quilts!

Happy Crafting!

Claire

Clearing off the Cutting Table

This is a rare moment in The Clubhouse. You can see the surface of my cutting table. 

Truly, this never happens. I've gotta cut major yardage to attach giant background borders to my Terrain quilt, though, so I need real estate. 

I just wanted to commemorate the event before it's covered in clutter again. Those of you who don't have this problem, share your secrets!

The Marine Den pattern release is tomorrow; just another reason to love Friday. Get pumped!!!

Happy Crafting!

Claire

WIP Wednesday: Background Fabric for Two Quilts

The first quilt seeing some background action this week is the Rose Star quilt. I cut up the first half yard of fabric that I ordered into hexagons and hexagon thirds. Then I pieced them into these little shapes that I'm calling sprockets.

I've been able to work on it a little this week, and I'm pleased with how it's coming together so far :-)

The other quilt in need of some background action is my Summer Sampler Series quilt top that I made last year. I made the blocks all from Terrain fabrics. I have one of the four giant background/border pieces put on, but I still need to cut and attach the other two. 

I couldn't find ten yards of a single Terrain print for the back, so I bought fabric from another line to be the quilt back. Mr. Pins didn't feel like it as much, which means we're now back to square one on the quilt back situation. I'm thinking of piecing something out of Terrain prints that I can get my hands on, or Mr. Pins likes this Beatrice Weave print in Raspberry.

Also, the Cascading quilt pattern got a little refresh today. If you purchased it on Craftsy, you'll be getting an update email to let you know that it was changed. The content is still the same, but it has the current logo throughout as well as a nicer cover. The Marine Den pattern is coming on Friday, so get pumped!

That's what's goin' on in The Clubhouse. I can't wait to see what ya'll are working on!

Happy Crafting!

Claire

Insert Your Own 50 Shades of Grey Jokes

I still have to piece seven half blocks for the Rose Star quilt, but this post is about picking the background!

I had a great lead on this awesome Shot Cotton in Latte from Form and Fabric, so I bought a yard of that and the Cotton Couture solid in Cream. Both Mr. Pins and I loved the Shot Cotton, but neither one of us felt like it was what we envisioned for the background. I was already feeling way out of my Kona White element. I wanted to use something other than white as the background, but none of the other prints or unlabeled gray solids that we pulled from my stash seemed to fit either. I will definitely be labeling all of my solids going forward. It would have been sad if one of those colors was a good fit and I couldn't identify it to buy more.

I wasn't convinced that any of the gray colors in my Kona or Cotton Couture color cards were what I was looking for. I went ahead and ordered a Stella Solids color card from Fat Quarter Shop along with thirteen gray solids. Can you tell I was invested in finding the right fit? Craziness. 

I asked that Fat Quarter Shop label the fabrics so I could tell them them apart and know which one to reorder, and they kindly obliged. The UPS man delivered the fabrics on Friday afternoon, and thus began the background picking saga. 

I had a really hard time seeing these blocks on a dark background. Don't get me wrong; I love a good dark background on a quilt. Hence my friend, Cindy's brain exploding Sedona Star quilt top. 

You're welcome. 

I had just been staring at these blocks on the white design wall for so long, that I was having trouble envisioning something other than white behind them. I pulled a really dark gray from my stash and threw it up on the design wall in wall in an attempt to train my eyeballs. 

Ultimately, getting input from folks on Instagram was a huge help. Ya'll are AWESOME! 

When I got down to three fabrics, I arranged the whole fabric setup on the bed hoping I would have a lightbulb moment seeing the blocks with a background as a finished quilt. This did make it a little easier to rule out the lightest fabric. At that point, the other two didn't seem that different and I picked the darkest one from my Fat Quarter Shop order, the Stella Solid in Gray.

For the record, this was Mr. Pins' first choice. He immediately liked it the best of all thirteen fabrics from Fat Quarter Shop. He's got the fabric picking gift, but I have to work a little a lot harder to see it. 

With the decision made, I started cutting up the half yard into hexagons and hexagon thirds. I pieced some of the background in and was very happy with it. However, it would have not bothered me in the least to pull out even ten hours of hand sewing if it didn't seem right.

Deciding on the background fabric is a huge milestone, but it feels anticlimactic now looking at all the background that has to be pieced in ;-) I've got another three yards of the Stella Solid in Gray headed my way. I'm going to do my best to get it chopped up into all of the necessary pieces quickly so that I can order more pronto if it's not enough

Alright, you can be honest with me. Am I the only lunatic who has made such a fuss about picking a background fabric?

Happy Crafting!

Claire

Arranging Rose Stars

With the Rose Stars all finished, it was time to pick a final arrangement. Here are the blocks on the design wall as they've been for the past few months. I did the quilty math at the end of January and pinned up the blocks I had finished to define the quilt perimeter before I started filling in the middle. 

Picking a final arrangement for blocks in a quilt top is not part of the process that I enjoy. It feels like a lot of pressure. Up until then, it seems like no big deal to pick out a seam here or there if you run across a problem. When a quilt top starts to form, though, it feels like a big commitment. 

I got out my step ladder and fiddled around with it. I took lots of pictures and recruited Mr. Pins for assistance. I'm happy with this layout, even though I did just go swap two blocks around on the design wall ;-)

Tomorrow I'll fill you in on the background. Pun intended!

Happy Crafting!

Claire